Conan: I'm really not the mastermind behind the scenes

Kogoro Mouri returned the photo to the butler: "Although it didn't explode, this kind of prank clearly crossed the line, and you didn't even call the police afterwards?"

The butler shook his head: "Actually, something happened to our family a long time ago. We suspected that a thief had broken into our house and some items had been moved. We immediately called the police, but after the police came, they only did a quick investigation and, after confirming that nothing was missing, said that we were making a fuss. After that, the master and madam stopped calling the police."

"I see."

Kogoro Mouri scratched his cheek awkwardly. Having been a policeman himself, he knew how unreliable many of his colleagues were.

Conan Edogawa pulled out his notebook and quickly jotted down these trivial details. He then asked, "Do you remember the dates these events took place?"

"They were all on the 4th," the butler said with certainty. "Except for the suspected burglary, all the other incidents happened on the 4th. Mianyin, you have records, right?"

The light ahead was red, so the driver slowly stopped the car and took a notebook out of his pocket.

"Two years ago, on February 4th, the old man had a nightmare; on July 4th of the same year, the brakes inexplicably failed; a year ago, on February 4th, we received that prank bomb; and five months later, on July 4th, the cupboard suddenly collapsed in the middle of the night; this year, on February 4th, we heard noises coming from an empty room..."

Conan Edogawa listened to the record with some surprise: "The record is very detailed."

The driver paused slightly, then closed the notebook and put it back in his pocket: "Well, my memory isn't very good, so I have to record everything that happens every day in detail."

毛利兰抓住某个关键：“每年都是2月和7月的4号出事，今天是7月3号……”

"Yes, the master is worried that something might happen at home tomorrow, so he asked me to invite Mr. Mori a day in advance, hoping that you can stay at our house for the night," the butler said apologetically.

"Actually, besides you, the master's friend will also be coming tonight, planning to keep him company." He said, then sighed, "I hope everything goes smoothly tonight."

……

The client's residence is in Nakano Ward, a very impressive three-story villa with the nameplate bearing the words "Kuniyu".

The driver parked the car at the entrance, and the butler led a few people out of the car and began to introduce the place while standing in front of the iron railing.

"Besides the master and madam, there are also me, Mianyin, another housekeeper, a cook, and three maids living here. One of the maids is off today and will be back the day after tomorrow. There are quite a few people, so I will introduce them to you, Mr. Mori, in a moment."

Kogoro Mouri looked up at the mansion in front of him and estimated its size: "A house this big definitely needs a lot of people to manage it."

They hadn't walked far when a young woman with short, shoulder-length hair approached them. She looked like she was about to go out and stopped when she saw them.

"They are..."

"Bohua, you've come at the right time. These are guests invited by the master. Please prepare more dishes tonight."

The butler greeted him with a smile, then turned to Kogoro Mouri, "Mr. Mouri, this is the chef of the Kunitomo family."

Conan Edogawa scrutinized the woman before him, surprised by her age. Kogoro Mouri shared the same question and asked directly, "So young and already a chef?"

Faced with his surprise, the female chef was quite composed: "The original chef was my father. After he passed away in an accident, I naturally took over his job."

As she spoke, she raised her hand to look at her watch, her expression faltering for a moment, and then she smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, I can't chat with you any longer. I have to go to the supermarket right away. If I'm late, the ingredients for the dish that Mr. Sekiguchi wanted will be sold out."

The housekeeper didn't stop her from continuing her chatter, and watched her jog away.

After she left, Conan Edogawa turned to the butler and asked, "Who is this Mr. Sekiguchi she mentioned...?"

"It's the friend I mentioned in the car earlier, the one who said he was coming to keep the master company overnight. He's the president of a security company, and he's the one who handled that prank bomb."

As the butler finished speaking, he seemed to suddenly remember something and said to the driver who hadn't driven the car away yet, "By the way, Mianyin, the master said this morning that he wanted to change today's hospital visit to 8 pm."

The driver, who had been taking notes in the driver's seat, nodded and said, "Okay, I understand," when he heard him speak.

“I’ll take you inside, Mr. Mori,” the butler said to them. “Since Mr. Sekiguchi is here, they should be in their bedroom on the third floor.” Since they still had a commission to make, they didn’t linger in the garden outside the villa. The group entered the villa and headed straight for the third floor.

As Conan Edogawa walked, he thought about the conversation in the car. He looked around and took in the exquisite furnishings of the room.

"Uncle Butler, regarding that theft case where no valuables were stolen, did you call the police after you saw things being disturbed?"

The butler, who was leading the way, looked down at him upon hearing this and asked, "Hmm?"

"That's how it's portrayed on TV: a thief breaks into a house, runs over everything in the closets and boxes where he can hide things, throws things all over the floor, and makes the house a mess, giving the homeowner a fright when he returns."

Conan Edogawa adopted a cute tone.

"But you just said in the car that you noticed 'some items had been moved,' which means the house wasn't messy at the time. So what exactly was moved?"

Kogoro Mouri, who was still thinking about the evil spirit, said impatiently when he heard him bring this up: "This didn't happen on the 4th, it has nothing to do with today's request."

Conan Edogawa ignored him and continued to stare at the butler.

"It is a painting."

Although the butler found Conan Edogawa's focus strange, he answered his questions truthfully out of respect for him as a guest.

"—Look, that's the one."

They had just passed the corner of the stairs when the butler pointed to a painting on the wall, and Conan Edogawa looked in the direction he was pointing.

It was an oil painting with a dark tone. The night was deep, with only a crescent moon shining through the clouds. A multi-masted wooden sailboat was lifted by layers of waves and sailed into the distance.

They walked up to the painting. Kogoro Mouri knew nothing about art, so he casually glanced at it and only thought, "It's not bad."

"Whose work is this?" he asked casually.

“This was purchased by the master during his trip to America. It came from an art exhibition by an unknown painter,” the butler added. “It’s called ‘The Argo, Returning Safely.’”

Argo?
Conan Edogawa was stunned for a moment.

“It’s a Greek myth,” Ran Mouri said.

“Uh…it seems so.” The butler thought for a moment. He was a specialist in housekeeping and didn’t know much about mythology. “It’s this painting. When we came back that day, I noticed that the painting was crooked by a full 5 millimeters compared to usual.”

Conan Edogawa: "...?"

Kogoro Mouri revealed his crescent-shaped eyes: "That's it? No wonder you guys made such a fuss when the police came."

“No, Mr. Mori,” the butler hurriedly explained, “I have severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. Even if it’s just slightly crooked, I feel uncomfortable. So I’m pretty sure the painting was perfectly fine when I left that day!”

"That's possible the maid accidentally knocked it over while you were out." Conan Edogawa rolled his eyes, feeling like a fool for asking about such a detail.

Just as he was about to look away, he suddenly caught something out of the corner of his eye.

In the lower right corner of the painting, on that dark sea at night, something seems to have been written in a slightly lighter color.

That is……

Before Conan Edogawa could read what was written, a hand tapped him on the head.

"Alright, stop looking," Kogoro Mouri said impatiently. "The client is still waiting for us upstairs." (End of Chapter)